Nominee Vs Legal Heirs in absence of Will

No, a nominee is not necessarily the beneficiary of a deceased/dead person’s accounts. The nominee is the person who has the right to operate the account after the person’s death. The nominee is like a trustee who will look after a person’s financial accounts after the person’s death. The nominee may not be the heir of the assets, but has the responsibility to hold the assets and transfer them to the deceased person’s legal heirs. In case the deceased person has not made a will, the legal beneficiaries will be decided as per succession laws.¹

1. Saving instruments: Nominees v. Beneficiaries, Bank Bazaar, accessed at https://blog.bankbazaar.com/saving-instruments-nominees-vs-beneficiaries/[↩]